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International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2225-8329

The Impact of Liquidity and Leverage on Financial Performance of Public Listed Firms in Jordan: The Mediating Role of the Dividend Policy

Mohammad Alshakhanbeh, Anwar Allah Pitchay, Md Aslam Mia, Rami nairoukh

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARAFMS/v14-i4/23477

Open access

This study investigated the relationships between liquidity, leverage, and financial performance, with a particular emphasis on how dividend policy mediated these interactions. Using secondary data from Jordanian service companies and employing PLS-SEM with Smart-PLS 4.1, the analysis incorporated advanced statistical methods like multiple regression and mediation analysis to assess the direct and indirect effects of financial indicators on performance. The results revealed a complex interplay between financial indicators and performance, highlighting key insights grounded in pecking order theory and agency cost theory. Liquidity indicators, such as current ratio (CR), cash ratio (CHR), and quick ratio (QR), along with leverage indicators like short-term debt (SD), long-term debt (LD), and debt-to-equity ratio (DTE), exhibited varied effects on financial performance. CR, CHR, and SD positively influenced earnings per share (EPS), whereas LD and DTE negatively impacted EPS, with QR showing no significant effect. The study also identified differences in how these indicators affected dividend policy, with CR and CHR negatively influencing it, while LD had a positive effect. Dividend policy was shown to fully mediate the relationship between CR and TQ. While, partially mediate the relationships between CHR, EPS, and TQ, as well as between LD and TQ. Among the control variables, only capital intensity (CI) and firm size (SIZ) have a significant effect, while firm age (AGE) and trading volume (TV) do not.